William French

William French, of Cambridge, was one of the first settlers of Billerica. Born in England about 1604, he emigrated from England in 1635 with Roger Harlakenden and Rev. Thomas Shepard's company, and settled in Cambridge with his wife Elizabeth, whom he had married in England. Their children, born before the move to Shawshin, included Elizabeth, Mary, John French, Sarah, Jacob, Hannah and Samuel; John and Jacob both followed him to Billerica and settled near each other on the east road, and his niece Sarah French married John Trull.

In the new Shawshin settlement French bought part of the Dudley farm, one of its twelve shares. His house stood near the later turnpike, east of the Bedford road, toward Indian Hill north of Nutting's Pond, near that of his neighbor Ralph Hill, who called him "brother" in his will. French signed the 1654 petition of the Shawshin inhabitants to the General Court, and he was one of the selectmen in the first recorded list of town officers, in March 1659/60. He was chosen commissioner for making the country rate, with George Farley and Jonathan Danforth joined to him, and in 1661 he was one of four men seated in the deacons' seat to help assign places in the new meetinghouse. In 1663 he and Farley were the committee to treat with Hill for the half acre that became the Old South Burying Ground.

He served as Billerica's first Representative to the General Court. The town records show him chosen on December 17, 1660, "Deputy for this Town for the Next Genr'. Court, and no longer," and two days later he took his seat at Boston, the first deputy from Billerica; Hazen's Genealogical Register gives his service as Representative as 1663 and 1664. He held the rank of Lieutenant; Farmer's 1816 memoir describes him as a military officer who "frequently solemnized marriages," and Hazen calls him "a leading citizen of the town."

His wife Elizabeth died March 31, 1668. On May 6, 1669 he married Mary (Lathrop), the widow of Lt. John Stearns, and they had four more children, Mary, Sarah, Abigail and Hannah, born between 1670 and 1676. He died November 20, 1681, aged 77, "in 78th y." by the town record, and his widow married Isaac Mixer of Watertown in 1687. The last house in town associated with the family, the William French House on Allen Road, stood on his son John's lot until it burned in 1976.

References

1. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 56: French family #1 (William French)
2. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 24: Lieut. William French's home toward Indian Hill
3. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 27: Ralph Hill's will calls William French "brother"; John Trull married French's niece
4. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 62: Lieut. French chosen Deputy, Dec. 17, 1660, the first from Billerica
5. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 59: first recorded selectmen, 1659/60, including Lieut. Will French
6. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 58: French chosen commissioner for the country rate
7. Vital Records of Billerica (1908), deaths: Lt. William French, Nov. 20, 1681, in 78th year
8. Vital Records of Billerica (1908), marriages: Mary Sternes, widow, and Lt. William French, May 6, 1669
9. Farmer, Historical Memoir of Billerica (1816): William French, born in England 1604, military officer